Friday, 28 February 2014

Jig has had a difficult life:
shunned by the other villagers due to a potentially dangerous “curse” inside
him and living as an orphan. Jig decides to go to the big city in search of a
cure for his curse. He soon meets an invisible floating mask. But has danger
followed him to the city?

Serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump comic anthology in both
Japan and overseas, Stealth Symphony starts its first chapter strong but
rapidly deteriorates as the chapter goes on. The main character is about as
interesting as watching paint dry naturally being a martyr with zero common
sense. To be fair, the supporting cast seems to be interesting thus far.
However, there’s also this series gimmick to hamper any enjoyment there might
have been: dragons.

The invisible masked man admitting
he’s a dragon at chapter’s end and Jig discovering he was part of a dragon
experiment or something. The plot is also horribly convoluted from the get-go
and that never is a good sign. Dragons are not a terribly novel concept at this
point having been done to death in popular culture. The protagonist’s back
story is also identical in concept to the popular franchise Naruto’s titular
character.

There is some decent world building
and I suppose there is plenty of room for it to grow. Given its pedigree
Stealth Symphony has potential. I enjoyed the concept of an invisible masked
man as a bodyguard from the people around Jig. That being said, I repeatedly
looked to see how much more I had left to read. In conclusion Stealth
Symphony’s first chapter is a dull start to a series that could easily improve
but I don’t hold out much hope it will last long enough too.

Rating: 5/10

Stealth Symphony is available digitally in North
America in Weekly Shonen Jump.

Prominent North American Online Retailer Offers
Annual Subscriptions And Got Anime Memberships Bundle To Explore The World’s
Most Popular Weekly Digital Manga Anthology

San Francisco, CA, February
20, 2014 –
VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of
manga, graphic novels and anime in North America, has announced a partnership
with leading online anime retailer and video publisher Right Stuf, Inc. Right
Stuf will offer annual subscriptions to the WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP digital manga
magazine, bundled with their Got Anime membership, offering exclusive product
discounts and other offers.

WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP is VIZ Media’s renowned weekly digital serial
anthology that features the synchronized latest chapters of a variety of
popular manga series debuting on the same day as the Japanese Weekly Shonen Jump magazine counterpart.
Right Stuf is a prominent independent video publisher that specializes in
packaging and distributing a variety of Japanese animation (anime), foreign
live-action content, manga graphic novels and other products.

Right
Stuf will offer WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP annual 12-month memberships to North
American readers for the regular price of $25.99 (USD) at RightStuf.com.
Fans signing up for an annual subscription will also receive a free 12-month
membership to Right Stuf’s Got Anime Club, which offers exclusive product
discounts and other premium offers. If a buyer is renewing, the new 12-month
WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP membership will commence at the end of their current subscription,
but the Got Anime Club membership will begin immediately.

WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP is the world’s most popular digital weekly
manga magazine and features the latest chapters of many of the world’s most
popular series such as BLEACH, ONE
PIECE, NARUTO, NISEKOI, TORIKO, and WORLD TRIGGER. Monthly series such as BLUE
EXORCIST and YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL debut on the closest Monday after the Japanese
release. Also serialized in the anthology are ONE-PUNCH MAN, a new color
version of DRAGON BALL and the most recent addition to the magazine SERAPH OF THE END. Annual
memberships also give fans a variety of fun bonus premiums including 4 special
YU-GI-OH! collectible trading cards throughout the year. Members can also access additional magazine content including creator
interviews and insightful promotional videos. More information on
WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP is available at: http://shonenjump.viz.com.

“Right Stuf is one of the most popular online destinations for
fans to purchase the hottest selection of anime, manga and other unique Japanese
collectibles and they will be a great partner for WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP,” says
Andy Nakatani, Editor-in-Chief of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP. “Right Stuf offers two
ways for fans to dive into all the fun with WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP, either with an
annual subscription that delivers 48 issues throughout the year jam-packed with
the latest chapters of some of the world’s most popular manga series, or with
the WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP
Jump Pack that gives fans a
3-month digital subscription and a cool YU-GI-OH! collectable card bonus. Don’t
miss your chance to explore WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP with
these special new offers!”

Right Stuf will also offer the new WEEKLY
SHONEN JUMP Jump Pack. Manga fans can get
up-to-date on all series currently featured in the world’s most popular weekly
manga magazine before diving into the latest issue. The Jump Pack is available
from Right Stuf, rated ‘T’ for Teens, and carries an MSRP of $19.99 U.S. /
$22.99 CAN. The first print edition notably features a YU-GI-OH! “Archfiend
Commander” Card along with a chance to win an extra “Slifer: The Sky Dragon”
card.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes,
markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan.
Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc.,
Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has
the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in
North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular
digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO,
BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family
friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all
ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs,
animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and
a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and
manga at www.VIZ.com.